ANT TOWER USER MANUAL

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User Manual

AntsCanada Ant TowerTM

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Contents

1 Ant Tower

1 Nest Reducer

1 Lid

1 Food Cap

1 Base (water reservoir)

1 Bag of sand

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1 Test Tube

2 PlugsTM

1 Test Tube Adapter

Large Vinyl TubingTM (6 inches)

1 Red Transparent Nest Cover

[Picture not available]

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Introduction

Congratulations on choosing AntsCanada for your ant keeping needs, where

professional ant keepers design and use the products. Your new AntsCanada Ant

TowerTM is a fully contained ant environment, complete with a nesting area and a

foraging area. It comes with an easy-to-use hydration system to keep your ant colony

well hydrated and provides easy and secure access for feeding.

As a member of our line of soil formicariums (fancy word for “ant farm”), your Ant

TowerTM allows your ants to create their own nest by digging tunnels and chambers.

And the best part is – you get to watch them do it!

Features

The AntsCanada Ant TowerTM has several features that make it the best soil formicarium

available.

1. Hydration

a. The bottom-up hydration approach more closely mimics the natural

environment that ants live in. In nature, the deeper portions of an ant nest

are typically moister than the upper portions.

b. The water reservoir provides water for at least a week, sometimes longer

depending on local conditions. This way you can leave for a time period

and not be worried about your ants dying from lack of water.

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Features (continued)

2. Nest Reducer

a. The nest reducer allows you to make the width of the digging area

narrower. For smaller ant species, this can be desirable as it forces them to

dig more tunnels and chambers against the side of the Ant TowerTM for

better viewing. For larger species, its use is not recommended.

3. Small feeder opening

a. Reduce the chances of ants escaping by only removing the small feeding

cap. No need to remove the entire lid when feeding your colony.

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Features (continued)

b. NOTE: As your colony grows and you have several ants in the foraging

area, it is recommended that you apply an insect barrier around the top

of the foraging area that the ants cannot cross. This will keep them off the

lid completely. A couple of options include making a liquidy paste with

baby powder and alcohol and applying it with a cotton swab or using a

product called Fluon (Insect-a-Slip). NOTE: Make sure to apply the barrier

on the inside surface of the Ant Tower foraging areas as shown below.

4. Cornerless

a. Some ant species can climb through any barrier applied if they have a

corner to navigate. The cornerless design of the new AC Ant TowerTM helps

you as the ant keeper to avoid this problem.

5. Seamless

a. There are no seams or glue used in the construction of the new AC Ant

TowerTM.

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Features (continued)

6. Built-in expansion and connection points

a. The built-in expansion and connection points make it very easy to

connect your new Ant TowerTM to other AntsCanada gear. If you have a

young colony living in a test tube setup, your test tube can be connected

to the Ant TowerTM with the use of the included adapter, or the Valve

Connector in the Deluxe Kit, allowing for a simple way to introduce your

young colony into the Ant TowerTM. As your colony grows, you can also

use our plastic tubing to expand your setup by connecting the AntTowerTM

to more AntTowersTM or other AntsCanada equipment.

b. IMPORTANT: Your Ant TowerTM comes with two built-in connection points.

Remember to block any unused connection points with cotton or an

AntsCanada PlugTM.

7. Microholes in the lid for good air movement.

a. An important aspect of any ant setup is air circulation. Without good air

circulation, you may see mold begin to develop. And of course, all living

organisms need a fresh supply of oxygen to survive.

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Features (continued)

8. Air hose port

a. To allow for even more air movement, your new Ant TowerTM has one air

hose connection point. If desired, you can connect a standard aquarium

air pump to increase air circulation in the foraging area of your Ant

TowerTM.

9. Red Transparent Nest Cover

a. The Nest Cover wraps around the lower nesting portion of the Ant TowerTM

and provides a dark “underground” environment for your ant colony. It is

made of red transparent plastic so it is still possible to view your ant colony

through the cover.

b. The wonderful thing about red light is that many ant species can’t see red

light, so they think they are in darkness. Without the cover, ants may

attempt to block light from entering the nesting area by placing dirt up

against the sides of the Ant TowerTM obstructing your view, but with the

cover in place, they will think they are in the dark.

c. The Nest Cover is easy to remove and replace as well. It is perfectly fine to

remove it occasionally for better observation of your ant colony, but is

best left in place during non-observation times.

d. You may optionally shorten the height of the nest cover by cutting it with

scissors so that it fits just on the lower digging half of the Ant Tower.

10. Strong design

a. Made from clear polycarbonate and ABS plastic. Stands up to dings and

bumps much better.

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Assembly

Your new AntsCanada Ant TowerTM comes fully assembled.

1. The entire lid can be removed. Gently apply upward pressure to one side of the

lid and it will pop off. The small round cap (Food Cap) can also be removed.

2. The base water reservoir can also be removed for cleaning.

Add Soil

Your new AntsCanada Ant TowerTM comes with a bag of soil which you can use as the

digging medium for your ant colony. You may also use a soil mixture of your own

making from your local area. To add your soil:

1. Decide whether you want to use the Nest Reducer or not. As its name implies,

the Nest Reducer reduces the width of the digging area. It can be used for

smaller ant species to force more digging against the side of the Ant TowerTM for

better viewing.

2. Pour in soil up to the top of the inner cylinder or Nest Reducer.

3. Lightly tap the bottom of the Ant TowerTM for a minute or so against a table or

desk to compact the soil. NOTE: Pushing the soil down with fingers or some other

tool is not recommended as it may scratch the inside surface of the Ant TowerTM.

4. Pour a little water into the Ant Tower and let it soak all the way down. Excess

water will drip down into the water reservoir. This will help with soil compaction

and provide a good digging medium for the ants.

5. If the soil level drops too far, pour in more soil to bring it level again with the top

of the inner cylinder.

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Decorate

You can optionally decorate the foraging area of your Ant TowerTM however you’d like.

Here is an example of a decorated Ant TowerTM. You can use pebbles, sticks and leaves

from your yard or purchase an Ant TowerTM Biome Kit from our web shop –

www.AntsCanada.com/shop.

Fully Decorated Ant TowerTM

Add Ants

The last step is to add your new ant colony. While the Ant TowerTM can be used to house

worker ants from a colony in your neighborhood that you collect, it is ideally suited to

house a growing ant colony, complete with an egg-laying queen.

With an egg-laying queen, you can watch the full life-cycle of ants, from egg, to larva,

to pupa, to ant. You can observe the various ant duties being performed and enjoy

watching your ant colony grow from one or two workers to thousands of workers.

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How Do I Get A Queen Ant?

Queen ants are all around you. You just have to know when to look for them and how

to identify them. We have created several video tutorials that can be found in our

AntsCanada YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada

Another option for getting a queen is to use the Global Ant Nursery (GAN) Project.

People who live close to you have already collected newly fertilized queen ants and

will sell one to you.

You can read about it here: https://www.antscanada.com/queen-ants-for-sale/ .

Cleaning the Ant TowerTM

Like any other pet, ants will create messes. Fortunately, they will usually pile their

garbage in the foraging area for you. As the ant keeper, you are responsible to

occasionally do a little clean-up work for them.

We also recommend that the entire Ant TowerTM by thoroughly cleaned with soap and

water at least once a year. Of course in order to do this, your ant colony will need to

move out into another location. A second Ant TowerTM would be ideal for this. Connect

a second Ant Tower and over a period of time, encourage them to move by using light

and heat.

Watch a video tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada

NOTE: You must not use boiling water when cleaning your Ant Tower nor should you run

it through a dishwasher cycle. Damage may occur if either of these things is done.

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Expanding Your Nesting & Foraging Areas

As your colony grows, they will need more nesting space and larger foraging areas.

Additional Ant TowersTM can be added as well as dedicated outworlds and other types

of formicariums. Some ant colonies have been known to occupy an entire desk or

table! Providing for the space requirements of your ant colony is another one of your

responsibilities as the ant keeper. There are many options to choose from as you

expand.

You can see a complete set of all AntsCanada gear here:

https://www.antscanada.com/shop/

Two Connected Ant TowersTM

Three Connected Ant TowersTM

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Other AntsCanada Gear

AntsCanada OutworldTM

AntsCanada Hybrid NestTM

AntsCanada Omni NestTM

Air Circulation & Air Hose Port

Air circulation in an ant setup is critical. Since the ants will

leave their garbage in the foraging area, toxic ammonia

can be generated. Proper air circulation removes this

ammonia. Air circulation is also important in keeping

condensation out of your Ant TowerTM which will minimize

the growth of mold.

The air hose port allows you to increase the air

circulation in your Ant TowerTM. This port uses

standard 3/16 inch (4.7625mm) diameter tubing.

Feel free to add a fish air pump to create air

movement within the Ant TowerTM to discourage

mold growth. You can find air hosing and an air

pump wherever you buy aquarium supplies.

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Preventing Escapes

It is common practice to add a barrier to prevent the ants from crawling up the sides of

the foraging area and escaping as you try to

add food, or tidy up the Ant TowerTM. The top

½ inch of the cylinder is the ideal location to

apply this barrier. Some of the more common

barriers include baby powder (sometimes

mixed with rubbing alcohol), fluon, and

petroleum jelly. Apply one of these barriers on

the inside of the foraging area and reapply

when you notice the ants are able to begin

crossing it in certain spots.

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Deluxe Version

The Ant TowerTM Deluxe version comes with some additional goodies for you. We’ll

explain them all for you here.

Red LED Light

The Red LED Light can be placed under the Ant TowerTM in the void created by the

inner cylinder. The small wire attached to the battery case can fit through one of the

two tunnels of the base, allowing the Ant TowerTM to still sit flat on the table or desk.

When turned on, a red light is emitted from the inside making the tunnels, chambers

and all the ant activity much easier to see. Again, the red light is not viewable by ants,

so it won’t disturb or alarm them.

Magnifying Glass

The small magnifying glass can be used to view some of the harder to see aspects of

ant life, like eggs, larva, and ant body parts.

Water Pipette

The water pipette can be used to add water into the base water reservoir or also into

specific locations above ground in the foraging area to recreate a rainy day for your

ant colony.